Diclonius
Diclonius are an evolutionary off-shoot of Humans, with physiology very similar to standard Humans. The differences are both outwardly visible and internal : Their heads have bony protrusions that resemble cat ears but are in fact a mix of bone and cartilage, possibly the result of an extremely enlarged pineal gland in their frontal lobes, which in turn grant them telekinetic abilities which emerge in the form of invisible arms referred to as vectors. These vectors have the ability to manipulate objects and are precise enough to have cutting power, and can be very destructive when unleashed. Diclonius tend to be heavily discriminated against (infants are often euthanized on the spot) by other Humans, and the series makes it unclear whether the often murderous hostility Diclonius show as well is innate or the result of the hatred shown against them. In the anime, Kurama explains to Bando that Diclonius are born with the intention of populating the world, and in the final episode Lucy tells Kouta that "I was born to destroy humans". Lucy seems at times to have a personality born of Diclonii instincts to kill humans, which may or may not have been responsible for her killing Kouta's family, a thought rejected by Kouta himself. However, Nana's character, as well as the incidents surrounding Lucy’s past and relations with Kouta, suggests that it is possible for Diclonius to have empathy towards humans, and that their sadistic characteristics develop as a result of their interactions with the world. Barbara, a clone of Mariko claimed to have also heard this voice. But her personality was shaped by birth and life in a lab, and seemed to have all of Mariko's sadistic tendencies without any of her tempering characteristics. In the manga, it is mentioned that Diclonius might fall into a coma if they lose one of their horns, and would never return from their lethargic state if they lose both horns. (Lucy's horns grow back though and manage to recover from this twice.) Their vectors usually have a limited range of a few meters. Lucy's are able to extend to two meters in the manga, and while Nana, Mariko, and her clones are shown to have either more vectors or greater normal range, Lucy's raw power is such that it came to threaten the world. However, the use of such levels of power, ultimately turned to healing Kouta's mortal wounds, lowered and then finally destroyed her body's integrity. Diclonius also have the ability to detect the location of each other, such as when Kurama released Nana from the offshore laboratory to search for and retrieve Lucy. Even this ability has limits, as Nana could not sense Lucy when she was in her childlike Nyu persona, nor could she sense the Mariko clones when they were under the control restraints set up by Nousou and the agent riding herd on them during their assault on Kaede House. Researchers at both the Kakuzawa facility and the government-controlled facility believed the Diclonius to be a serious threat to the Human race. Diclonius are for the most part kept in isolation and fed by tubes. When Kurama's daughter Mariko is born as a Diclonius, he recalled an incident in which an escaped child Diclonius touched him with her vectors. From this, Kurama realized that this explained his daughter's condition and an explosion of such births, with Diclonius passing on their DNA and causing Human parents to have horned children, in theory up to the point that normal Humans would be displaced as the planet's dominant species. Lucy mentions the danger to the human race to Kouta in the final episode: "Given just five years, I can ensure that there are more babies of our kind born in the world than there are normal humans." There are two main classes of Diclonius. One is Lucy, the Queen, the others being Silpelit. The Silpelit Diclonii cannot reproduce but instead use their vectors to infect Humans turning their child into Silpelit when they are born. Other types include the many clones of Mariko, who was arguably the most powerful Diclonius and a boy born of Chief Kakuzawa's rape of Lucy's mother, the true source of Diclonius DNA and the vector-born virus, despite being fully Human. The Kakuzawa family had for many generations believed that they were Diclonius as well, and built up a world-shaking scheme based on promoting Diclonius supremacy, including detonating a missile laden with the virus in the skies over Japan. Though this belief turned out to be mistaken, the threat from the Diclonius kept on even after the deaths of Lucy and Chief Kakuzawa, with the cycle of attacks and retribution ensuring no possibility of co-existence between the races. It is revealed in the final chapter that a temporary world-wide birth ban coupled with the use of the Anti-Diclonius Birth Vaccine helped lead to the end of this threat, though not before the death of a sizable portion of the world's population. Below is a list of Diclonius on the wiki : *Lucy *Silpelit #35 "Mariko" *Silpelit #3 *Silpelit #28 *Silpelit #7 "Nana" *the son of Chief Kakuzawa and Lucy's half-brother *The Kakuzawa Family *The many Clones of #35 Category:Elfen Lied Category:Diclonius